One week ago, right around this time, I was preparing for my evening newscast at ComRadio when my producer handed me a news release regarding the Sandusky charges. It was the first I had heard of the case. Little did I know that this story was on the verge of exploding within the coming days.

I have acquired most of my knowledge on the series of events through Internet articles and social media outlets. What greatly disturbs me is the fact that we as students, and the media, which covers many of our actions, have lost sight of the core issue. Numerous children were sexually assaulted and will forever be emotionally damaged from the incidents and yet all we seem to focus on is the legendary coach Joe Paterno and fate of President Graham Spanier. While they certainly may have played a part and enabled the crimes to continue, if we used the time that has been spent on covering their every move, and redirected it towards efforts to seek out the victims, we could actually start to heal some wounds and find specs of justice.

I refuse to partake in the rallies occurring at Old Main, downtown, and outside of Paterno's home. The schools image and integrity has already been tarnished and students are exacerbating that by acting out and obnoxiously petitioning. I have yet to read or watch one story discussing the victims of the crime, but have viewed a plethora of images of students in an uproar, even one man who burned his diploma on the lawn of Old Main yesterday afternoon. It is understandable that this is a time of so many strong, passionate, and conflicting emotions yet there are much more productive ways to express them while upholding respect, dignity, and grace for our own moral compasses and for the sake of this institution. No one has acquired all of the facts and put the pieces of this jumbled puzzle together yet. This time calls for critical thought and analysis through discussion, reflection, and investigation, but certainly not by engaging in even more destructive and shameful acts of violence and hate.

Since many people both locally and nationally are using Facebook and Twitter to gather most of their information regarding these events, perceptions and beliefs about what is actually happening are becoming extremely skewed. These media outlets provide only short bursts of information and/or opinions, which clearly do not tell the entire story. Additionally, there is a lot of hear say and personal bias that inhibits one's ability to acquire facts and develop their own personal opinion of the situation. We are inundated with media and it is critical that we take time to decipher truth from commentary and direct our attention to the core issues of the case. The media needs to prioritize the story so that the first order of business is the alleged crime and the victims, then the accused Sandusky, Curley, and Schultz, and lastly, those who may not have done enough, such as Paterno.

A couple of days ago, a local media outlet contacted me to make a comment on President Spanier's actions. They were looking to me for a statement due to the fact that I am a student in this Presidential Leadership Academy. While I have many thoughts and strong feelings I would love to convey, I decided that it was in my best interest to keep my mouth closed. I have developed a close connection to President Spanier, as we have had many in-depth conversations during Leadership Academy classes and events. I want to root for him. Yet to evaluate a situation critically, it is important to remove any biases and quick impulsive reactions; therefore, I have to express my honest insights. To be truthful, I was so disappointed by the statement he released Saturday evening conveying his full support for Curley and Schultz during this time. It made no sense to me, as I feel that making that comment immediately put his job in jeopardy. A pillar of this Academy and something he has always said is, "It is our responsibility to prepare students to understand that the most difficult decisions in today's world require the examination of all sides of an issue. It is in the gray area that the greatest challenges reside."Why not keep quiet until the full story was unveiled and think deeply and critically about every side of the issue before making such a prominent statement? It is hard to even fathom that he was involved in this sort of "boys club" and allegedly conspired in this debacle. Yet in no way was I going to express my views to a reporter, for I want to honor his Academy, uphold my greatest of respect for all he encompasses and has accomplished at this University, and avoid contributing to the perpetual feed of opinions that are becoming the news.